ronnie brown vs kevin durant: Hockey Fights Are Fun and Educational

Last week, DP incited a ruckus when he railed the NHL for permitting fights. As DC's resident hockey writer, I feel obligated to contribute my rebuttal.

DP wrote:
"Not only is it retarded to have two men, stop a game for a 3 second fight, but it is also pretty dangerous... Someone could die for no fucking reason, and then what happens to hockey? Even in the NHL rules it fosters the removal of a helmet during a fight by giving a player an extra minor penalty for not removing his visor. Doesn't that sound stupid, someone could get seriously injured if they wack their head on the ice."

I think this excerpt thoroughly demonstrates DP's lack of understanding when it comes to hockey. Which is fine. But here's a bit of an education. The rule that forces players to remove their visors helps AVOID injuries. When trying to punch someone's face, it's nice to not have a visor slice open one's knuckles. Fighting with visors is extremely dangerous. Most enforcers don't wear visors explicitly because it's bad etiquette to fight with a visor.

A year ago, Don Sanderson died after banging his head on the ice at the end of a hockey fight for the minor league Whitby Dunlops. Some people might blame the fight for his death, others might blame badluck. Skulls and ice don't mix. But they often only result in concussions when they strike. Rarely in death.

When Nick Adenhart died, did people suggest banning driving at times when drunks are also likely to be driving? It's dangerous to drive on the same road as drunks.

Every moment in life is dangerous. That danger increases when you fight someone. I once worked a Patriots game where a fan was punched once, which sent him hard to the ground. He cracked his skull and nearly died. I guess the safety-conscious DP would ban going to football games because someone might get hurt.

But despite DP's hockey ignorance, I think he makes some good points. Hockey should follow the lead of other sports, particularly baseball and basketball.

Instead of allowing 2 individuals to fight, the NHL should let tempers boil over, let guys like Sean Avery deliver a cheapshot, then both benches can clear, baseball style. Then everyone can stand around and play grabass for a few minutes. If only there were bullpens so 15 more participants could run 200 feet and join the mingling.

Then there's those tough guys in basketball. Basketball doesn't allow fighting. Instead, two 7' men will talk trash and threaten to fight, both knowing punches won't be thrown. Sometimes, they'll do this trashtalking half an inch from each other's face. This catfighting is only milimeters away from full-blown guy-on-guy kissing.

THAT was a fight? No lie, that's the #2 video on YouTube when you search "basketball fight."

And if there were fighting in the NBA, it would certainly be much more brutal than the NHL. Eventually, players would bring their gats to the bench, instead of leaving them in the locker room, where they belong.

In all seriousness, hockey is a physical game, with countless one-on-one battles. It's an emotional and aggressive game, and there are few breaks or stoppages in play, as there are in football. Tempers flare, and fighting serves as an outlet for those tempers.

Outside of Philadelphia, there's very little violent cheapshotting in the NHL. Because not only do players know they'll have to answer for their actions by dropping the gloves. But angry, mean, and potentially dirty players productively exorcise their aggression through fights.

DP's alternative is a game without fighting. In college hockey, there's no fighting. And it's usually fine, but sometimes games slow to a crawl because nobody can fight. Last Friday, BC beat Maine 6-1. As the game got out of hand, so did the penalties. Slashing, roughing, interference, high sticking. This was in a game that'd been decided. Instead of this parade of penalties, a 30 second fight would have calmed Maine's tempers, and helped them reinforce their shattered pride.

In big games, like the Stanley Cup Playoffs, there's almost no fighting. Unless, of course, the game is a blowout. As annoying as these trivial scuffles can be, they do serve a productive purpose. I'd rather a 5-1 playoff game end with fights, as opposed to cheapshots. I'd rather see the losing team's anger worked out in the 5-1 game, as opposed to letting it spill over into the next.

Nobody goes to hockey games just to see the fighting. Fights are inconsistent and unpredictable. They happen less than once per game in the NHL. In minor leagues, fights are more frequent, and too often are planned "statements" by individual players instead of natural enforcement or release of anger. This is a problem that should be addressed.

I've never gone to a Bruins game and enjoyed a loss because I saw a good fight. I've never gone to a game and left disappointed that I didn't see a fight. I don't exit the Garden thinking about the fight I did or didn't see. I'm thinking about the game.

Hockey fans do enjoy the fights as part of a game. They're exhilarating. They're fun to watch. But even fans that abhore fighting in hockey STILL WATCH THE GAMES. Because both groups love the sport.

DP doesn't like hockey. And that's fine. I don't think it's because he's ignorant of the game. He just doesn't like it. I just don't like tennis. I just don't like X-Games. And I just fucking hate lacrosse with all my heart and soul.

DP tries to justify his dislike of hockey. And it's vein, empty, and meaningless. He's afraid to just admit that he doesn't like hockey. He feels the need to try and convince us hockey fans that there's something wrong with us and something wrong with the sport we love. It's a common habit among human beings. We hate what we don't understand. DP hates that people like hockey.

Fighting is something exclusive to hockey. Hockey has it, baseball, basketball, and football don't. Fans of other sports might even be a bit jealous of that. I think DP might be one of these envious fans. When entering an argument like hockey vs. basketball, he knows that fighting will come up, and the pro-basketball side will have no answer for it.